st. helenaArts & Culture

Arts & Culture

The purpose of art, Picasso famously said, is washing the dust of daily life off our souls. Even if it’s vineyard dust, we like to clean up and go out from time to time. Fortunately, there’s a rich source of arts and entertainment right here in the valley.

All one needs to do to sooth the soul is stroll down Main Street for a gallery experience like no other. Acclaimed for their discerning approach and discovery of original art, the Christopher Hill Gallery represents a distinguished roster of well-known and emerging national, international and regional artists purveyed within two distinctive gallery settings in both Napa and Sonoma wine country. Caldwell Snyder is a leading contemporary art gallery representing many of the most significant international painters and sculptors of the 21st century.

For local performing arts, try St. Helena’s Napa Valley Shakespeare (“Napa Shakes”) which presents various live and film productions of the Bard’s plays – including last year’s tour de force King Lear by the touring Globe Theatre of London. St. Helena is home to the charming White Barn, which presents small musical and theatrical productions in an intimate setting. And Napa’s spectacular Art Deco Uptown Theater is the place to go for great headliner music, from jazz to rock and everything in between. Area performing arts includes Lincoln Theater in Yountville – a premium 1,214-seat venue for live entertainment, including our own Symphony Napa Valley and Napa Regional Dance Company.

Every summer, the Napa Valley hosts Festival del Sole, a twelve-day event that blends the finest classical, jazz, opera, theater, and dance artists with top-of-the-line cuisine, wine, and fitness, all staged in the Valley’s most iconic settings. And save November for the Napa Valley Film Festival, which is rapidly becoming one of the country’s top cinematic festivals, with previews, after-parties, gala events, and celebrity interviews hosted at venues from Napa to Calistoga.

Year-round art lovers can find classes, camps, and studios at Nimbus Arts, which offers instruction in all media. And our beloved Cameo Cinema – at over 100 years, it’s the oldest single-screen movie theater in the U.S. – screens the latest feature films along with new indie releases, family movies, pop-up restaurants with select showings, and other community events.